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Chris Paul reportedly telling teams he is staying with Clippers

June 30, 2013 By Larry Brown Leave a Comment

Note to NBA teams not named the Los Angeles Clippers: don’t bother pursuing Chris Paul, because the point guard plans to remain with the Clips. At least that’s what ESPN is reporting.

ESPN the Magazine’s Chris Broussard reports that CP3′s representatives have told inquiring teams not to bother pursuing him because the All-Star point guard plans to remain with the Clippers despite being a free agent.

Paul was traded to the Clippers from the New Orleans Hornets prior to the 2011-2012 NBA season and took an immediate liking to LA. He even bought a house in the Bel Air Crest gated community. There were some concerns that Paul was unhappy with the team over the implication that his dissatisfaction with Vinny Del Negro cost the coach his job, but the team’s ability to acquire Doc Rivers may have changed his attitude toward the team; Paul badly wanted Rivers as the team’s coach.

Broussard says there were only slim chances of CP3 leaving the Clippers before Rivers was hired and that the point guard did entertain the thought of teaming with Dwight Howard and joining the Atlanta Hawks. That must have only been briefly entertained, because it sounds like Paul is staying in LA, while Howard may be headed to Houston.

Filed Under: Basketball Tagged With: Chris Paul

Chris Paul reportedly pressuring Clippers to make deal with Celtics

June 20, 2013 By Steve DelVecchio Leave a Comment

The Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Clippers may not be done dealing just yet. Earlier this week, LA reportedly rejected Boston’s offer of Kevin Garnett and Doc Rivers for DeAndre Jordan and two first-round picks. It was believed that the Celtics wanted point guard Eric Bledsoe in the deal in addition to Jordan, but that may not be the case anymore.

Instead, the proposed deal — without Bledsoe — is reportedly still on the table and awaiting approval from Clippers owner Donald Sterling. According to Baxter Holmes of the Boston Globe, Chris Paul and his camp have reignited the trade talks by pressuring LA’s front office to pull the trigger on the deal.

League sources reportedly told the Globe that Paul feels two first-round picks and Jordan is a small price to pay for an elite NBA coach and a veteran forward with championship experience. Keep in mind that Paul is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent next month. CP3 was reportedly angry with the team a few weeks ago after he felt they made it look like he was the reason Vinny Del Negro was fired.

While Sterling isn’t exactly the type of owner who would do something simply because a star player tells him to, you would think Paul’s opinion holds some weight. The Clippers need to re-sign Paul, and it sounds like pulling the trigger on the trade with the Celtics would almost guarantee they would be able to do that.

As a side note, Rivers is a player’s coach and was an All-Star point guard doing his playing career. The fact that Paul is excited about the potential of playing for him is hardly a surprise.

Filed Under: Basketball Tagged With: Boston Celtics, Chris Paul, Los Angeles Clippers

Atlanta Hawks may have tampered via Dwight Howard, Chris Paul letter

June 5, 2013 By Steve DelVecchio Leave a Comment

The Atlanta Hawks may have jumped the gun a bit by using the names of impending free agents in an attempt to boost their ticket sales, and the NBA could make them pay for it. A recent letter that was sent to prospective ticket buyers hyped up the possibility of Atlanta making a run at Dwight Howard and Chris Paul this offseason. Both Howard and Paul are under contract with other teams.

Per NBA rules, teams are not permitted to speak publicly about players who are under contract with other teams until they officially become free agents on July 1.

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the letter was headilined “Hot New Player news: Chris Paul and Dwight Howard.” The opening statement read as follows: “The buzz around our offseason is more than heating up. With massive cap space, 4 draft picks, and free agency rapidly approaching, we sit in the best position in the NBA. Player interest is skyrocketing as the possibilities of landing Chris Paul & Dwight Howard become more and more of a reality.”

The letter also included a link to a story about Paul being unhappy with the Clippers over the notion that he forced the team to fire former coach Vinny Del Negro. It told fans to snatch up tickets before the Hawks make their “signings” and “there will be no seats left.”

Hawks president Bob Williams issued a statement on Tuesday acknowledging that the team has in all likelihood committed a rules violation, but stressed that it was a team employee who authored the letter on his own.

“The letter that has been referred to was written by one of our season-ticket reps of his own volition,” the statement said. “While certainly he is a member of our business staff, his specific reference clearly does not represent how our basketball operations or our business staff have consistently communicated about free agency. It is unfortunate that this mistake, by a single ticket rep with no ill intent, occurred.”

You would think the team would proofread outgoing letters a little more carefully for reasons like this. In any event, the Hawks will probably be looking at a hefty fine. Paul may be upset with the Clippers and Howard may be leaning toward leaving LA, but Atlanta should have waited another month or so to start using that speculation as a marketing tool.

Filed Under: Basketball Tagged With: Atlanta Hawks, Chris Paul, Dwight Howard

Chris Paul said to be ‘angry’ with Clippers over Vinny Del Negro reports

May 31, 2013 By Larry Brown Leave a Comment

Chris Paul is “angry” with the Los Angeles Clippers over the perception that he was responsible for the team getting rid of Vinny Del Negro as head coach, ESPN reports.

Del Negro was informed by the team last week that they would not retain him despite leading the team to a 56-26 season. Yahoo! Sports, CBS Sports, and the Los Angeles Times all indicated that Paul was dissatisfied with Del Negro and/or wanted a different coach. Team owner Donald Sterling even indicated to the LA Times’ T.J. Simers that Del Negro was let go to increase the team’s chances of retaining Paul, who will be a free agent.

The speculation that Del Negro was let go in order to increase the team’s chance at retaining Paul was prevalent last week after the Del Negro news was announced. The issue came back up this week when Del Negro conducted an interview with Dan Patrick and hinted CP3 had a role in his firing.

All the talk about him costing Del Negro the job supposedly has the all-star point guard upset.

“He’s angry right now and his anger is directed toward the Clippers organization,” a source told ESPN. “Chris is a man of principle and if he feels like you’ve gone against his principles, it will affect how he feels about you. He’s very agitated that his name has been put out there as the reason for Vinny’s firing. He had nothing to do with it.”

ESPN’s source said neither Paul nor Blake Griffin were involved in the decision to dismiss Del Negro. Moreover, the source said the front office decided to make the change on their own after having disagreements with the coach during the season. ESPN also says that Del Negro feels Paul got him fired.

Paul will be a free agent on July 1 and was long believed to be highly likely to re-sign with the Clippers. There is a possibility that this issue over the perception that he was responsible for Del Negro’s dismissal could cause him to sign with another team.

Filed Under: Basketball Tagged With: Chris Paul, Los Angeles Clippers, Vinny Del Negro

Vinny Del Negro hints Chris Paul’s free agency had role in him losing job

May 28, 2013 By Larry Brown Leave a Comment

Vinny Del Negro was not brought back as head coach of the Los Angeles Clippers after three mostly successful seasons with the franchise. Multiple reports and the comments of team owner Donald Sterling have indicated the Clippers decided not to bring back Del Negro because they felt hiring a new coach would give them the best shot at retaining Chris Paul, who is a free agent.

During an interview on “The Dan Patrick Show” on Tuesday, Del Negro was asked point blank about how much of a role he thought CP3′s free agency played in the Clippers not bringing him back. Del Negro seemed to subtly admit Paul wanted a new coach while boasting about what the point guard accomplished under his watch.

“Well, Chris is a free agent. They were compelled to make a decision. He’s entitled to his opinion. But he made first-team All-NBA both seasons on defense and on offense, and I believe that’s the first time he’s done that in his career. We set every franchise record. In saying that, he’s a free agent and he’s going to have a lot of say so on a lot of things as he did the previous summer when we put the team together,” said Del Negro.

Patrick turned it up a notch and asked Del Negro about CP3 more directly.

“Do you think Chris Paul did not want you back?” he asked.

“Oh I don’t know. I don’t think I need to get into that. It’s behind me,” Del negro answered.

Del Negro then complimented the job he and his staff did with the team.

“They’re positioned for success in the future. There’s no question you have to have a long-term view. They were compelled to make a decision that they felt was in the best interest of their team. However it went down it doesn’t matter.

“Obviously the Clippers’ history is the Clippers’ history, but I’m proud of what we did there the last few seasons. They’re positioned to be successful for a long time now, which I’m proud of. I give my staff and all my assistant coaches a tremendous amount of credit.”

It seems to me that Del Negro acknowledged the situation without directly admitting Paul was behind the firing. I agree with the team’s decision not to bring him back, but how can you not at least feel a little betrayed to hear that your star player preferred to have a new coach?

Filed Under: Basketball Tagged With: Chris Paul, Vinny Del Negro

Chris Paul reportedly wanted a different coach for Clippers

May 21, 2013 By Larry Brown Leave a Comment

The Los Angeles Clippers decided not to bring back Vinny Del Negro as their head coach, and the upcoming free agency situation with Chris Paul may have a lot to do with it.

Paul, who completed his second season with the Clippers and finished fourth in league MVP voting, will be a free agent this summer. He reportedly supported a coaching change.

Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski reports that Paul “wanted a new coach.”

CBS Sports’ Ken Berger says Paul “was not a fan” of Del Negro.

The Los Angeles Times’ Broderick Turner says Paul and Blake Griffin liked Del Negro personally but had doubts about his ability to lead the team to a championship.

It seems like the reports were pretty strong across the board that CP3 supported a change.

Even though the Clippers were highly successful in December and won all their game that month as part of a franchise-record 17-game winning streak, they lost in the first-round of the playoffs. It’s likely that a better coach would be able to get more from this talented team.

Names being mentioned in connection with the head coaching job include Lionel Hollins, Jeff and/or Stan Van Gundy, Byron Scott, Larry Drew, and Alvin Gentry. Current NBA assistants Mike Malone (Warriors) and Mike Budenholzer (Spurs) have also been mentioned.

Filed Under: Basketball Tagged With: Chris Paul, Los Angeles Clippers

Joey Crawford ejects Chris Paul, Zach Randolph at end of game

May 3, 2013 By Larry Brown Leave a Comment

Joey Crawford wasn’t content letting the final minutes of Game 6 between the Memphis Grizzlies and Los Angeles Clippers play out. Oh no. The veteran NBA referee decided he had to make himself a central story.

Crawford decided to eject Chris Paul with 2:29 left in the game. Tayshaun Prince was at the line and made his second of two free throws to put the Grizzlies up 113-99. After the second free throw, Paul and Matt Barnes sandwiched Marc Gasol who was in the lane. Paul ran up and rammed into Gasol with his elbow first. It was a physical play, but it didn’t seem to deserve an ejection. Either way, Crawford gave Paul a technical and tossed him.

“I don’t understand how you can throw Chris out of the game,” coach Vinny Del Negro said after the game. “Unless it’s something incredibly flagrant — which it wasn’t.”

Paul said his team had a small lineup on the floor and that he was going down to help box out Gasol.

After his ejection, CP3 gave a hug to Prince, Zach Randolph, and Jerryd Bayless before leaving the court.

Then with 1:57 left in the game, Crawford tossed Randolph. Mike Conley was at the line and getting ready for his second of two free throws when Crawford ejected Z-Bo. No real reason was given for the ejection.

The Grizzlies went on to win the game 118-105, but Crawford’s officiating was suspect. Chris Paul’s brother, CJ Paul, accused Crawford of having a role in fixing the end of the game:

Joey Crawford should be held accountable for how this game turned out. The fix was on.

— CJ Paul (@cjpaul14) May 4, 2013

With such a quick trigger, is there any surprise some Spurs players pretended to shoot a fake Crawford on Halloween? He really had no business ejecting those players, but that’s Joey Crawford.

In all, there were seven technical fouls called, two ejections, and the Grizzlies shot 47 free throws compared to 24 for the Clippers.

Filed Under: Basketball Tagged With: Chris Paul, Joey Crawford, NBA playoffs 2013, Zach Randolph